West and Central Africa \ Local democracy
This section contains information relating to all aspects of lcoal democracy and good governance at the local level. The Commonwealth principles on good practice for local democracy and good governance - known as the Aberdeen Agenda - which have been adopted by all CLGF members and are incorporated in the Commonwealth Charter, set the framework for the promotion of local democracy in the Commonwealth. The materials in this section relate to the constitutional and legal provisions for local government and include a range of studies, policy and training materials on local elections, leadership, community participation, representative local government, local government management and partnerships between local government and other key stakeholders such as traditional authorities.
Sub-topics:
- The Aberdeen Agenda
- Community participation
- Constitutional/legislative provisions
- Decentralisation policy and practice
- Local government elections
- Local leadership
- Local government management
- Partnerships in governance
- Decentralisation in post-conflict environments
- Local government associations
- Transparency and anti-corruption
- Traditional leadership and local governance
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The ‘silent pistol’ in Ghana’s local government system: presiding members vs. chief executives
Decentralisation and local governance aim at local economic development, but collaboration among key actors at the local level is essential in realising this objective. However, at district assembly level Ghana exhibits problematic conflicts between district chief executives (DCEs), who head the executive committee, and presiding members (PMs) who convene and preside over assembly deliberations, acting as speaker. This study aims to unpack the main causes of such unsavoury conflicts by using 13 case studies from the Ashanti Region. Both primary and secondary data were collected for the study. Primary data was gathered from a selection of 40 key informants drawn from three main groups including DCEs, PMs, and other stakeholders such as regional coordinating council members, assembly members and chiefs. The main research instrument was one-on-one in-depth interviews with participants. The study found deep-seated conflicts between DCEs and PMs, in some cases even transcending these two actors to involve a greater section of actors within the local government administration. The study noted that professional bureaucrats within the local government service are affected when allegations of affiliation are levelled against them. The study also found that the legal status of DCEs and PMs appears to be the main driver of potential conflict, although other context-specific issues were also prevalent.
Author: Issah Justice Musah-Surugu, Emmanuel Yeboah-Assiamah Publisher: University of Technology Sydney Press Publication year: 2015
Basic services for all in an urbanizing world: GOLD III - Book Review
Basic Services for All in an Urbanizing World is the third instalment in United Cities and Local Government’s (UCLG) flagship series of global reports on local democracy and decentralisation (GOLD III). In the context of rapid urbanisation, climate change and economic uncertainty the report is an impressive attempt to analyse local government’s role in the provision of basic services, the challenges they are facing, and make recommendations to improve local government’s ability to ensure access for all. Published in 2014, the report is well positioned to feed into the current debate on what will follow the UN Millennium Development Goals, and examines the role of local government in the provision of basic services across the world regions.
Author: Claire Frost Publisher: University of Technology Sydney Press Publication year: 2014
Constitutional democracy and caretaker committee in Nigeria local government system: an assessment
The 1976 Local Government Reform among other landmark changes unified the local government system in Nigeria, and the 1979 constitution made local governments the third tier of government and provided for a system of local government by democratically elected councils. More recently, elected local government councils have been dissolved and replaced with Transition Committees or Caretaker Committees appointed by the Governors’ of their respective states. This paper therefore, examines the impact of the caretaker committees in Nigerian Local Government on the practice of constitutional democracy. The discussion is framed by the theoretical perspectives and Nigerian literature on local government and constitutional democracy, and by the recent phenomenal wave of dissolving elected local government councils and subsequent replacement with caretaker committees. Contrary to popular belief, that local government as the third tier of government has failed to achieve the objective for which it was created, this paper observes that party politics has been the bane of Nigerian local government since its inception, and that democratically elected local councils with political and financial autonomy are the major conditions for an effective and efficient multi-purpose local government system in Nigeria.
Author: Jude C Okafor, Ikechukwu H Orjinta Publisher: University of Technology Sydney Press Publication year: 2013
Review of the commonwealth local government good practice scheme
The final (third) phase of the Commonwealth Local Government three year capacity building
programme, the Good Practice Scheme, funded by the UK Department for International
Development (DFID) came to an end in late 2011. The programme partnered councils and
local government associations from six targeted Commonwealth countries - Jamaica, India,
South Africa, Sierra Leone, Pakistan and Ghana - with their counterparts in South Africa,
India and the UK with the objective to exchange good practice and generate innovative
solutions to challenges faced by local governments.
A total of 34 projects were active during the Scheme’s lifetime and contributed successfully
to having a positive impact on the ground for local communities. The dissemination of the
project activities through national workshops in partnership with national local government
associations meant that the successes and lessons were shared with local governments
throughout the countries concerned.
A new focus of the third phase of the GPS was to promote south-south partnerships: six of
these partnerships were set up, three of them being tripartite, two having a northern
hemisphere partner, with the remainder, both dual and tripartite, being south-south.
Despite partners’ diverse cultural, socio-economic circumstances and administrative
practices, this methodology of technical support and exchange of ideas allows partners to
share and compare their challenges and reflect on own approaches. The south-south
partners, with varying cultural beliefs, learnt that cultural practices should not be ignored in
advancing new initiatives: traditional norms and practices are a way of life for the majority
of communities especially those in the agricultural, small scale farming sector.
Author: Rachael Duchnowski Publisher: University of Technology Sydney Press Publication year: 2012
New CLGF four-year grant to help local government service delivery and boost CLGF’s research capacity
The UK Department for International Development (UK AID) has agreed £4.5 million funding for a four-year CLGF programme to improve governance and service delivery at local level in several areas of the Commonwealth including Africa and Asia from 2012-16. It will also help to support national policy frameworks for local government service delivery, and increase engagement of local government in regional policy planning and implementation. CLGF will continue to work with its members, UN partners and others to mobilise more resources towards the support of local government in the Commonwealth.
The new programme will focus on local government pilot projects in LED, supporting ministries and local government associations in strengthening their national policy making for local government, and establish regional forums to enable local government to engage in and influence regional policy making to reflect the needs and priorities of local government. It will also boost CLGF’s research capacity with targeted research to strengthen CLGF’s policy making and advocacy, including more sustained engagement in international policy debates on key issues affecting local government, such as climate change.
Author: Lucy Slack, Susan Rhodes Publisher: University of Technology Sydney Press Publication year: 2012
